Tuesday, August 27, 2013

At the end of 2012, the owners of go-enThe Japanese Ramen Shoppe asked us to drop by and sample their new offering: ramen burger. When I first heard about it, the idea seemed, well, weird, but after a Google search, I learned that ramen burger was becoming popular in Japan, so off to go-en we went to try this exotic burger.

Nowadays, ramen burger seems to be the newest craze in New York City and other parts of the USA. From what I can tell, though, NYC's ramen burger seems to be a fusion of American and Japanese styles: a beef patty sandwiched between noodle buns. go-en's version, on the other hand, is similar to the ones I saw (online) being sold in the streets of Japan: no beef patty; the meat slices and other solid ingredients are the ones in the middle of the buns.

Eating ramen burger was a novel experience. I expected the noodle part to be hard and crunchy but the buns were soft and only lightly toasted. The fillings and the sauce gave the burger an interesting taste.

Last Sunday, go-en's ramen burger was featured in the "Pa-Burger Ka Naman" segment of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. Zark's Burgers, another restaurant that we have reviewed before, was also highlighted in the show. Please fast forward to 23:25 if you want to go straight to go-en's and Zark's parts (I'm encountering a glitch when embedding with a time stamp).

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Last year, I tried and enjoyed Kopiko Kopiccino Instant Cappuccino. When it comes to instant coffee, though, our family has been slugging Nescafe for decades, so it is great that Nescafe now also has an instant cappuccino mix.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I got to try Cool Taste Apple-Flavored Jelly Drink just now. I thought it would be similar to jelly drinks sold in plastic bottles but I got disappointed.

The taste is okay. The juice itself is sweet, like a typical tetrapack juice. The green jelly is only slightly sweet, not bad.

There is very little juice though, not enough to quench your thirst. Another problem is that the packaging is a poor idea for this kind of product. The jelly is not cut into small pieces and since the straw offers only a small opening, getting the jelly out is difficult. You will have to suck and suck while mashing the container, then you will give up, get a scissor, and just cut the upper half of the pack to get the remaining mass of jelly inside.

Monday, August 19, 2013

There are now many donut shops here in the Philippines, but as a child of the 80s, when donuts are concerned, Dunkin' Donuts has a special place in my heart. When I imagine donuts (and yes, I daydream about food -- a lot), it's the distinct flavor and aroma of classic Dunkin' Donuts flavors that come to mind.

Nowadays, I notice that many DD branches and outlets look outdated compared to their newer competitors. A shame, really, so I was glad to know that the branch in Lucky Chinatown Mall looks modern and hip. The place is well lit and has a relaxing, positive vibe typical in modern coffee shops.

We ordered the Blueberry Cheese donut (P35), Choco Mint muffin (P45), yummy loaf (P40), and hot chocolate (P40). We actually wanted coffee but DD ran out of coffee that afternoon. That was a surprise since according to some things I had read online, DD is increasing their efforts lately to make their coffee drinks more popular.

Anyway, the yummy loaf was good but I can't really say more about it because it was not mine and I only got a teeny tiny bite of it. The blueberry cheese donut is a premium donut but it did not appeal to me much because I found it too sweet. It might have been better paired with brewed coffee; with hot choco, the sweetness was a little overwhelming for me. I prefer the classic donuts.

I don't eat a lot of muffins since some of them are dry and too crumbly and I end up with crumbs all over, but the choco mint muffin was seductively calling my name while I was browsing the neighboring donuts. I was happy that I got the muffin. It was moist and its sweetness was just right. There was also a good balance of the chocolatey taste and the mintiness.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Synopsis:

Logan (Hugh Jackman) is living a solitary life in the woods, riddled with guilt after the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Yukio (Rila Fukushima) shows up and informs him that Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), a Japanese soldier he befriended during the bombing of Nagasaki, is dying and wants to see him to say goodbye. Logan travels to Japan to see his old friend, who is now incredibly wealthy. Yashida informs him that he has found a way to cure Logan's immortality and offers him a normal life -- one where he can grow old and die. After Yashida dies, Mariko's life is suddenly in danger. Logan steps in to protect her but finds that his power is weakening.